The shuttered Bay Mills Indian Community casino in Vanderbilt, Michigan. Photo © Bay Mills News
Attorney Gabe Galanda says National Indian Gaming Commission can avert disaster in Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community, an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case:
By now, we all knows the risk of Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community being decided by the U.S. Supreme Court this winter. The Indian gaming sky is literally falling. What began as a fight over whether Bay Mills could open an off-reservation casino on Indian lands-claims property, has devolved into a direct attack on (1) tribal sovereign immunity and (2) tribal sovereignty over gaming. NCAI has wisely urged the NIGC to moot this case by issuing a closure order for the off-reservation casino. But before the issue came to a head, a few years ago, a lawyer within the NIGC opined that the agency lacked jurisdiction over – incredibly – this Indian gaming operation because it is not on Indian lands. This 2010 letter has apparently given the NIGC all the cover it needs to completely punt the issue. In doing so, the NIGC is failing to achieve its core mission of protecting Indian gaming as a means of tribal economic development.Get the Story:
Gabe Galanda: The NIGC Can Fix Bay Mills (Galanda Broadman Blog 10/8) Relevant Documents:
Supreme Court Order List | Supreme Court Docket Sheet No. 12-515 6th Circuit Decision:
Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community (August 15, 2012) Related Stories:
Bryan Newland: Closer look at gaming compacts in Michigan (10/01)
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